Five former Conservative MLAs form new party, still without a name

PENTICTON - Three more MLAs who walked out on Kerry-Lynne Findlay have now walked into the vehicle Peter Milobar and Ian Paton sketched on August 24: a new provincial party that still has no name, five seats, and a promise to sit as the third party when the legislature returns October 5.Radio host and former BC Liberal MLA Jas Johal posted the Kamloops release just after 7:20 a.m. Friday. Prince George-Valemount’s Rosalyn Bird, Abbotsford South’s Bruce Banman and Chilliwack-Cultus Lake’s Á'a:líya Warbus have joined Kamloops Centre’s Milobar and Delta South’s Paton. Milobar will serve as interim leader until the five hold an internal leadership vote before the fall sitting..“We’re building on the momentum Peter and Ian have created over the last week and a half toward giving voters a stable, thoughtful alternative to the NDP,” Bird said in the release. “This party will be focused on the issues the NDP has neglected for far too long: the economy, healthcare, affordability, taxation and land rights.”.Warbus put a clock on it. “We have, at most, two years to be election-ready to defeat the NDP, and joining Peter and Ian is a commitment to making sure voters have a strong alternative when that election comes. There’s no time to waste.”Banman, who called Findlay "unelectable" in a BC Conservative caucus resignation letter last week, added his own commentary: “British Columbians deserve a government that respects a dollar earned and doesn’t punish people for working hard,” he said. “Joining Peter, Ian, Rosalyn and Á'a:líya means we can do that work together as a team.”The party is not named in any line of the statement. Milobar told reporters last month the he and Paton had not chosen one. Elections BC’s published register of provincial parties, current to September 3, does not list a new Milobar vehicle. CentreBC is already on that list, under Mike Bernier. This announcement does not merge the two.Milobar has been selling the project as a fiscal-and-resource home for people who will not vote NDP and will not follow Findlay. “This will be a party for hard-working British Columbians: one that restores fiscal sanity to this province and positions British Columbia as a national leader in resource development and job creation,” he said Friday.He and Paton first said they would form a party the day Paton left the Conservative caucus. They said then they expected company. Friday is the first time three of the later walkouts have put their names on the letterhead.The five are a slice of the nine sitting Conservatives who have left Findlay since August 14, not the whole cut. Richmond-Bridgeport’s Teresa Wat, Courtenay-Comox’s Brennan Day, Boundary-Similkameen’s Donegal Wilson and Columbia River-Revelstoke’s Scott McInnis are still sitting as Independents on the public record. None of them is named in the release..Warbus had left her options open prior to the Friday morning announcement. When she quit Monday she said she had not decided whether to join any party Milobar and Paton built. Four days later she is in. Banman, on August 27, invited other MLAs “regardless of political affiliation” to sit Independent with him. He is now in a five-person caucus instead.Bird is the northern piece. She walked August 25 after telling Findlay she would not vacate Prince George-Valemount so the leader could run a by-election there. Paton and West Vancouver-Capilano’s Lynne Block gave Findlay the same answer on their own seats. Block is still in the Conservative caucus. Paton is now in this one. RCMP officers were scheduled to interview him Wednesday about an alleged paid offer from then-chief of staff Chris Delaney to leave Delta South. Findlay has denied any job-for-seat deal..The five say they will sit with official third-party status on October 5. Under section 1 of the Constitution Act, the leader of a recognized political party is the leader in the house of an organization represented by two or more members, other than the premier or the leader of the official opposition. The Greens already meet that test with two. A five-member caucus would be more than two times greater than the BC Green bench, but likely still significantly smaller than whatever is left of Findlay’s when the legislature returns for the fall session.The Conservatives won 44 seats in 2024 — only three shy of forming government.After McInnis they are down to 29 sitting caucus members, not counting Abbotsford-Mission, which Reann Gasper vacated August 22 so Findlay can seek it September 26. McInnis endorsed Milobar in the BC Conservative leadership race, and so it would be unsurprising if he too joined the Party newly formed on Friday at a future date.Official opposition status depends on caucus size. The house is not sitting until October 5. Recognition of a new party is a Speaker and house-administration question when it is.Findlay has no seat until the Abbotsford-Mission byelection concludes. Neither she nor the Conservative caucus had issued a public response to the Kamloops release at the time of writing. The next general election must be held on or before October 21, 2028. Warbus’s two-year clock is the honest one. Between now and then the unnamed party has to register a name with Elections BC, elect a permanent leader, and decide whether four other Independents — and anyone still inside Findlay’s room — want in before the Speaker calls the fall sitting to order.

Five former Conservative MLAs form new party, still without a name

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